SMALL shops in Worcester are encouraged to enter the Best Small Shops Competition to show off what makes them special.

The Best Small Shops Competition celebrates the creativity and role of small shops in the community, offering them the chance to receive some well-deserved recognition.

Worcester MP Robin Walker is calling on Worcester’s small shopkeepers to enter the competition, having advocated for supporting small businesses and shops as part of Worcester’s retail community.

Mr Walker will also shortly be launching his very own Independent Business Awards to showcase the local establishments making a difference in Worcester.

Mr Walker said: “This is a great opportunity to showcase our small shops to the rest of the UK.

"I encourage all small shopkeepers in Worcester to consider entering the competition to promote their business and show to everyone what we have to offer.

“Small shops play such an important role in our city and to our local economy, which is why I am supportive of these awards.

"Worcester has a number of distinctive, unique and original stores which deserve to be recognised."

The Best Small Shops Competition is open to any small shop operating in the UK.

The competition is free to enter and all shops who enter will also be promoted to consumers through an online Indie Retail Directory.

The competition offers a chance for small shopkeepers to show the public what makes their shop so special.

A shortlist of 25 applications will be judged by a panel of representatives from the independent retail industry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of a small shops’ entrepreneurial spirit, ways that they have been innovative in their business and what they have done to have a lasting positive impact on their community.

The shortlisted small shops will be invited to a Parliamentary Reception on November 5 to meet M Walker and find out who will be crowned the Best Small Shop for 2019.

The entries for 2019’s Best Small Shop competition are now open. Submit your entry at www.bestsmallshops.co.uk.

Entries close on Monday 9th September 2019.

The 2018 Best Small Shops Competition was won by the Mainstreet Trading Company, a bookshop, café and deli based in the rural Scottish Borders.